This is a single F horn imported to the U.S. by Carl Fischer, New York and has the lowest
serial number yet found on a Schmidt instrument. It also inscribed with "S.W. 19"
indicating the post office serving the district in Berlin where the C.F. Schmidt workshop was
located. It is described as as the "old city post office I" (alte Stadtpost-Expedition I)
located at Sparwaldsbrcke, Krausenstrasse, Beuthstrasse (probably near the intersection
of the latter two) in the Kreuzberg section of the city. This is the earliest
It is quite possible that this horn
pre-dates the invention of the Schmidt double horn in 1900, thought to be the first full
double horn design.

The title Groherzoglicher-Schsischer Hof-Musikinstrumentenmacher
("Grand-Ducal-Saxon Court Musical Instrument Maker") was bestowed on March 28, 1896 by
the Office of the Court Marshall (Hofmarschallamt) in Weimar.

The U.S. importer, Carl Fischer, assigned serial numbers to the musical instruments it
sold. Unfortunately there is no extant list of these numbers to assist in establishing a
chronology. The number inscribed on this instrument is, however, the earliest
by a substantial amount found on C.F. Schmidt horns.
(See the table on an accompanying page.)

Solder scars about a centimeter below both ends of this brace indicate that
it has been moved after final cleanup of the horn. This is curious since there is no
evidence of repair or that the tubing to which it is attached has been shifted. The only
conclusion is that the brace had been shortened and repositioned after it was initially
installed. (A similar shifting of a particular brace between the leadpipe and F tuning
slide is also found on several C.F. Schmidt double horns.) There is some general brass
instrument folklore that the location of bracing can affect vibrational stability of
individual harmonics if they happen to fall on a node or antinode. Perhaps after
this horn was finished and being tested at the factory, this brace was shifted to
correct a faulty (or "wolf") note.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of this horn is in the valve levers. Note that the
finger plates are slightly convex. Also the connecting arms have sharp angle corners and
some simple decorative bevelling. These details are not found on later C.F. Schmidt
horns which might attest to this instrument's early manufacture.